MPs have warned that government departments don't understand the extent of violence against women and girls or preventative work happening at a local level – even though combatting the problem is core to one of prime minister Keir Starmer’s five missions.
Reducing so-called VAWG by half over the course of a decade is a central part of the safer streets mission set out in the Labour Party’s general election manifesto last year. The Home Office is the lead department for the mission.
However, parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has said VAWG victims and survivors “continue to be let down” as government departments “struggle to keep pace” with the evolving nature of the problem.
MPs said VAWG affects at least one in 12 women each year and accounts for around one in five crimes recorded by the police in 2022-23.
According to PAC, departments other than the Home Office spent an estimated £979m on tackling VAWG between 2021–22 and 2023–24. However, because the Home Office did not oversee that spending, MPs said the department could not be sure that efforts across government were not being duplicated, or that spending was not being wasted.
In their just-published report, committee members said that while the Home Office recognised that a fundamental shift in approach is needed, they were “sceptical” that departments are sufficiently set up to deliver on the mission.
MPs said community-based services for victims and survivors are at “crisis point”, with evidence that women’s refuges are having to refuse 65% of requests and community-based services are only able to support half of those who ask for help.
They said the rise in demand was being compounded by the increasing complexity of the cases that services are dealing with, with almost half of those in refuges now presenting with mental-health problems.
Another aggravating factor was the impact of crown-court backlogs on victims and survivors of rape and serious sexual offence cases.
MPs added that the Department for Education also needed to “step up” with a more proactive approach to the “proliferation of misogynistic attitudes across social media platforms, and their influence on young men and boys”.
PAC member Anna Dixon said success in reducing VAWG in line with the government’s aspirations would require “urgent and coordinated action across departments” to ensure victims get support, justice is delivered swiftly, and preventative action is taken.
“The levels of violence against women and girls in our country are truly appalling,” she said.
“This is not an issue the Home Office can tackle alone. While arresting perpetrators is vital, it will not solve this problem. It is crucial that we address the underlying cultural issues, particularly the rise in harmful online content shaping misogynistic views in young men and boys. Education and other preventative measures to counter the spread of harmful content are needed.”
Dixon added that tackling the housing crisis would also be “vital” for success in reducing VAWG.
“During our inquiry, we heard that there are only two wheelchair accessible refuges nationally. This is completely unacceptable. Women should not be forced to remain in unsafe, potentially life-threatening situations because of a lack of suitable accommodation,” she said.
“While it was welcome to hear of recent efforts to better coordinate action across departments, officials’ evidence caused alarm bells to ring. On some types of harm, government appears to be oblivious to the true scale and there remains scant evidence or learning from what is working locally. It is vital that the Home Office seizes this opportunity to lead and co-ordinate strong action across departments to ensure victims and survivors have access to the services and support they need and deserve, and that as a society we reverse the worrying rise in misogyny.”
Among their recommendations, MPs said the Home Office must set out how the government’s mission–led approach will hold all departments to account for their contributions to tackling VAWG and ensure collective buy-in.
They also asked the department to specify how it will engage with the Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service to ensure all survivors are “appropriately supported” by the family courts system.
Another recommendation is for the Home Office to set out how the Department of Health and Social Care and DfE will share intelligence relating to VAWG appropriately, to build up government’s understanding of the scale of the problem and its ability to prioritise efforts effectively.
MPs are also seeking clarity on how the Home Office intends to measure progress with the ambition to halve VAWG in a decade – demonstrating what alternative indicators will be used to measure progress in areas not covered by the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Jess Phillips, who is minister for VAWG and safeguarding at the Home Office, said the PAC report underscored the significant challenges that had been inherited from the previous government.
"Every day, the lives of women and girls across our country are shattered by violence and abuse,” she said. “As part of our ambitious pledge to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, we have already put domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms in the first five forces, introduced new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in select areas, and set out a clear process for police to release information about online stalkers.
“Our new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, coming this summer, will take a cross-government approach with prevention at its heart – to better protect victims, support their journey to justice and hold perpetrators to account.”